FTB. Are the seller and estate agent taking the micheal??

junglist_grans_2

After finding out on the survey that all the windows are rotten and have simply been painted over by current owner we got some quotes for replacements - 9k.

The seller and his estate agent are saying that the survey still values the house at the asking price, even with the problems, so there is no need to negotiate on price. They are saying that only if the survey valued the house less would they negotiate on price.

Am I right to feel like they trying to take advantage because I'm a FTB?

What's the norm for solving problems that arise from the survey - I mean he's blatantly just tried to paint over rot and mould and pass them off as A1 condition - why should I have to foot the bill for the replacements?

BitterAndTwisted

What kind of survey was it? Bear in mind that the EA is working solely for and on behalf of their fee, so take no notice of anything they say.

If the window-frames are cack you can bet on your Granny's life that there are many other things which are cack too. I'd walk from this one

LisaLou1982

If your survey has come back and the surveyor has said that the house is worth what you have offered in the current condition then why should the vendor reduce?

Remember that youre not buying a brand new house so the vendor is not obligated to reduce the price for whatever you think needs replacing.

If you dont have the funds to get the windows replaced then you can contact the EA and put in a revised offer and see what the vendors think. I think 9k is a LOT for double glazed windows, unless of course its a large property that youre buying.

Be prepared to walk away if the vendors decide to put the house back up for sale.

rrf494g

You don't have to buy the place.

Reduce your asking price by £12,000, because there are bound to be more problems that have been covered up, and walk away if there's no deal. Good Luck

LisaLou1982

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

What kind of survey was it? Bear in mind that the EA is working solely for and on behalf of their fee, so take no notice of anything they say.

If the window-frames are cack you can bet on your Granny's life that there are many other things which are cack too. I'd walk from this one

How can you possibly come to the conclusion that because the windows need replacing then everything else in the house does to????

Ignore this OP - youve had your survey. Go with that.

myhouse_2

Just a warning - from my experience.
If you find this kind of problem, it often means the owners have not put any money into maintenance over a long long period of time and there are likely to be other areas needing attention.

catloverbex

Mmmm - if it was me I would definitely reduce my offer. Simply for the fact that your offer would not have factored in a cost of £9k for new windows.

Obviously it depends on how much you wanted the house though. If you're prepared to risk losing it then I would defo be firm and tell them you are reducing your offer.

Good luck!

junglist_grans_2

Had a full on survey done and there are a few other things but nothing as costly as the windows.

LisaLou1982 wrote: »

If your survey has come back and the surveyor has said that the house is worth what you have offered in the current condition then why should the vendor reduce?

That's what the sellers saying, but I didn't realise that a survey gave you a highly accurate value of the house ( which in this instance is exactly the same as we offered!! ). So if the windows were in perfect condition the survey would have come back with a value more than we offered??

So I'm being unreasonable asking the seller to help pay to get the windows back into a condition we were led to believe they were already in?

garthdp

Well thats why you (and the bank) have a survey, so either use it or ignore it.Your Move

Jennifer_Jane

I've had surveys done where the surveyor's valuation was (slightly) less than the offer I had made. So we agreed to reduce down to that.

But I tend to agree with people above who consider that the owners have patched things over and there will be other things that you haven't yet discovered! Could be noise, could be absolutely anything. I personally would walk away, but if you must buy this house, then certainly hold out for a highly reduced figure. You know you have to fork out 9k as soon as you own the house. I can assure you that surveys don't pick up everything.

junglist_grans_2

Well - really not keen on losing the house (or money paid out already) but also not keen on footing the 9k bill for window he blatantly tried to cover over and pass off as great condition.

So does his argument that the survey says the house is worth exactly the same as offer so no room to negotiate hold water?